Digital.
A word which has become increasingly ambiguous. From a periphery channel, to core competency.
Within marketing the digital element of a campaign used to be considered as an after thought. Today brand planning centres around reaching consumers in a digital world.
It still means differing things, depending on who you ask. And for us here at ‘Cut the Cliches’, we turned to a man who has decades of experience in the field, leading his agency since 2009 and the era of mobile, through to the customer experience focus which his 150+ agency has today.
Ben Beath, MD at Loud & Clear helps brands transform internally to become more digitally enabled. Simply put, it’s about taking legacy infrastructure and streamlining the process for today’s increasingly time-poor workforce. This can, and often does involve automation, as we discuss the impact of Industry 4.0 on how jobs are viewed. Ben speaks about how to mesh technology decisions with customer-centred design thinking – we ask him what this means in practice for brands like AGL and FFA that he’s worked with.
We caught up with Ben, in his central Melbourne office, on one of the floors which the agency has expanded to following its acquisition by US-based global IT consulting group Avanade.
Throughout the podcast we discuss:
– what the acquisition means for Loud & Clear
– what are the most over-used phrases in the industry
– the effects of automation on the workforce
– the rise of customer experience officers in brands and how it’s affecting briefs
– how digital agencies can differentiate themselves in an increasingly crowded market
– and the effect consultancies are having on the conversations he’s having with clients
Next week we have a special on voice search, so tune back in for that.
Until then, enjoy your week.